While we do have a lot of issues to write about, I try my best to also help educate our readers on some historical events that most, if not all Filipinos have never even read about. This story is about what happened to the Philippine Treasury at the beginning of World War II exactly 67 years ago, which was a feature story on Time Magazine on May 25, 1942. But then who in the Philippines read that story during the Japanese occupation?
This was the remarkable story of the USS Trout (SS-202), a supply submarine whose skipper was Lieutenant Commander Frank Wesley Fenno who was highly decorated with the Army’s Distinguished Service Cross and the Navy’s Citation for this dangerous 51-day mission. His mission was to re-supply the beleaguered US and Philippine Defense Forces that retreated to the Bataan Peninsula and the island of Corregidor.
Between Pearl Harbor (which was still reeling from the Japanese surprise attack) and Manila, there were only treacherous seas patrolled by the Japanese Imperial Navy. Filipinos thought and believed that America had all forgotten the Philippines. Commander Fenno’s mission is proof that the US Forces tried to re-supply the Philippine Defense Forces under Gen. Jonathan Wainwright who were very low on supplies and ammunition.
So the USS Trout was chosen to bring some 3,500 rounds of high-altitude anti-aircraft artillery shells for the defense of Corregidor. In order for all this deadly cargo to fit the submarine, all her torpedo tubes were removed, except on the bow and aft, including her ballast.
The Trout arrived in Manila Bay on Feb. 3, 1942 and was met by a PT boat, PT-43, skippered by Lt. John D. Bulkeley (we already wrote about this American hero who brought Gen. Douglas MacArthur to Cagayan de Oro and got President Manuel L. Quezon out of Bais, Negros also to Cagayan de Oro for the flight to Australia) who escorted the submarine to the Corregidor dock and immediately unloaded his precious cargo through a Bucket Brigade.
But Commander Fenno’s mission wasn’t finished. Now he had to return to Pearl Harbor and suddenly his problem was a lack of ballast for the sub, otherwise it would not submerge. Corregidor was the wrong place to look for ballast because every rock and stone was needed for ramparts or sandbags for defensive positions. So Commander Fenno had to find other ways to get ballast for his sub.
Corregidor had become the temporary headquarters of the Philippine Islands, where President Quezon holed up with the rest of the government’s Cabinet, including the Philippine Treasury. Under the First War Powers Act, Francis B. Sayre, the High Commissioner to the Philippines, ordered the burning of $3 million and $28 million in Philippine currency, including $38 million in treasury checks. Then he tasked his Executive Assistant, Woodbury Willoughby, to transfer 20 tons of Philippine gold and silver to Corregidor with the order that if the war turned for the worse to throw the gold into the sea so that the Japanese occupiers would not get hold of it.
Willoughby knew that the war wasn’t going their way. So instead of throwing the gold into the sea, he thought that Commander Fenno could use this gold as ballast for his submarine, which was almost the exact same weight that his sub needed. Hence, the same Bucket Brigade that unloaded his anti-aircraft ammo was used to carry the gold bullion into the hold of the Trout.
A total of 319 gold bars with a value of $7 million were loaded inside the sub, plus 630 bags of silver and other coins. Total value of this precious cargo was $23 million!
On Feb. 4, 1942, the USS Trout left Manila Bay, passed through the minefield and proceeded back to Hawaii. On her return trip, she torpedoed an enemy merchant vessel and one patrol vessel with her two torpedoes on board and arrived in Pearl Harbor on March 3, 1942. She was moored next to the USS Detroit where another Bucket Brigade was organized to transfer the precious cargo for transport back to the United States for safekeeping until the end of the war. Yes, the article that was sent to me by my good friend Joel Martinez featured the photos of US sailors unloading each gold bar by hand from the sub and into the US Navy cargo ship.
Time Magazine was quick to point out that there should have been 320 gold bars, but only 319 was brought into the sub. But the Time Magazine reporter who wrote the story came up with a follow-up story that a week later, Woodbury Willoughby turned up in San Francisco with one gold bar to return it to the authorities. He merely said, “Here’s one I forgot!”
I got this story months ago and decided to print it on its anniversary. I hope that this story would be used by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as part of its history and hopefully will be in our Philippine history books.
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For e-mail responses to this article, write to vsbobita@mozcom.com. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.philstar.com. He also hosts a weekly talkshow, “Straight from the Sky,” every Monday, 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.